Recent events between Russia and U.S.A. Makes me feel like if we were in Cold War again...
Bough are starting to search for allies, in this....
For example....
USA senate few days ago, voted, that Russia should admit the illigal occupation of Baltic states after World War 2..... (where were they 60 years ago??? )
Russia is going to help Columbia with it's Space program (what the hell, i thought Cuba was poor country, but IDK)
USA wants to build air defense systems (against who???) in Europe (i think it was Poland.....)
Russia going to sell weapons to Venezuela
Russia invades (yes, i mean it) Georgia

So as you see, most of recent events are showing that bought countries seam too be preparing for something (my thoughts)

I really hope this forum is not going to allow threads of such political nature (including religious ones). It only stirs up animosity among members and does no good. There are countless other places to bring up such topics.

As to a second cold war, the only thing that worries me is that the U.S Government has so debt at the moment; if I was a banker, I'd tell my own government to go to hell, before offering them credit lol.

I for one was curious what forum members whose countries were formerly held by the USSR have to say about Georgia and other recent events. There are quite a number of such people here.

Contrary to the assertion, there are not really that many sites where there can be a reasonable discussion of these sorts of issues, particularly where there are a lot of members from the respective regions, and where the discussion is not full of trolls. One is Wretchard's site, but on too many there is simple bloviation and invective and little else.

Certainly the forum should stay BSD-focused, and that is why people are here. I see no harm in an occasional discussion of other topics. If you don't want to read it, then don't. The moderators can keep an eye out for invective, but honestly I don't expect that much since it will likely be visited only by the regulars.

This post is long enough, so I won't offer anything about the original inquiry for the moment.

My concern is from two other forums. Very technical with very smart people but no one dares go into the OT board where political and religious wars rage on and bad feelings carry over into other areas, and even other forums.

I do think that conflicts between the US and Russia will be increasing. Russia was humiliated after the breakup of the USSR, and now is regaining its strength because of natural gas and oil. It has shown that it will not hesitate to use that as a foreign policy tool. Germany, Italy and California are very dependent on Russian gas, so the threat is real.

Russia also has $500 billion in the bank, and it will use it to further its interests. Those interests do not align that well with the interests of the EU or the US. So of course it is backing Iran and Venezuela -- the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Mitigating some of this is China, who has many ethnic Chinese in eastern Russia.

We'll have to see if things reach the state of another cold war. The world is a bit different now that China and India are much more powerful. In my opinion, the place to watch is the Ukraine.

He may wish as strong as he can. My country (Republic of Armenia) declared it's independence 17 years and one day ago. Yes we are strategical allies with Russia. But there is no way for us to go "back to the USSR". I for one shall vote against that any day.

He may wish as strong as he can. My country (Republic of Armenia) declared it's independence 17 years and one day ago. Yes we are strategical allies with Russia. But there is no way for us to go "back to the USSR". I for one shall vote against that any day.

If you will get any chance to vote at all....

As one of historians once said about our country:
We are never occupied, we are always liberated
(there is byplay, in this text)

[i don't want to touch history... otherwise we will have mess here....]

Agreed. It is hard to argue with tanks, or have them accept your vote. (And by "tanks" I do include the whole array of modern warfare, from jamming to disrupting the internet to airplanes to air defenses to irregulars who pillage and plunder.)

Russia has been pretty interesting lately. Especially their treatment of Georgia.

I think the Russian government is asserting itself back onto the world stage in a manner not unlike how the US government has been trying to assert itself internationally. Neither wants to really start the Cold War up again, but neither wants to admit that China and India are the new powerhouse nations.

The US has a lot more to lose in this way IMO. Russia is covered with natural resources (however inconveniently they may be situated), but the US has outsourced the greater majority of all of its manufacturing...

But really, the Ukraine and Russian relations are probably the most interestign thing to keep an eye on re: Cold War 2. The Ukraine is often considered a massive Democratic success. If the Russians attempt to take them back in any way less that entirely mutual, then it'll be kind of scary...

But I doubt they would. The Russian Federation is struggling with too many sub-cultures trying to become independent (Chechnya being a primary one) to try to build a new empire. They risk invalidating their current state as a collection of states forced together.

A bit longer than I intended... but I will say that in my opinion, some of the things the US is doing on the borders of the Former Soviet Union is plain wrong from the standpoint that they're antagonizing a country that they should be embracing.